Chapter thirteen- Ember

                                    

                                          
Leif looked up at Ember, "what is it, Ember?" She asked, looking up at him. "Um... Do you know where the, uh, um, tournament is located?" Ember asked stupidly, hovering in the air. There was not a sight of an arena anywhere. "Huh? Oh... Um... I don't know, sorry..." Leif whispered. 
"Well, that's just GREAT." Ember groaned. "Let's go back to town and ask. Hopefully, people will still be there." 
"They should; the tournament starts at 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m." Leif said. 
"How do you tell what time it is...?" Ember asked. 
"Oh, look down there." Ember obeyed and looked down where Leif was pointing. A huge clock tower stood below them. It said, '4:30 a.m., tournament at 6:30, begin approaching.' In big letters and numbers.
 "Oh." Ember thought for a moment that they'd be done for. Or him, not Leif; she was the one who was excited for the tournament. If she found out that he'd ruined it.... 
 Leif would be furious. I hope she doesn't hurt me... Ember gulped; kids are scary... He remembered the kid who threw rocks at him almost every day.  No human accepted him except Grace. Even so, she seemed to not like him at all at times. One time, a stray Grace was taking care of pooped in her bed, and Ember had uncovered the sheet to show Grace before she went to bed, but instead, he was framed for it. Darned cat! Ember shook the thought away; I need to stay focused! Ember sucked in a breath, "why don't we go back to town now?" He asked. 
"I don't know about that. I'm being framed as a murder. I didn't kill anyone though. I saw a hooded figure. All I saw were pretty golden eyes and white feathers. Oh, and a pretty earring on her ear. But her ears were weird, they stick out like an elf's, but... they're feathered. It was really pretty. But it was also traumatizing." She sighed. "I couldn't see her face, though."
"Then stay hidden. If you stay hidden inside the hammock, you won't be noticed. Cling to my stomach; you're red, so you'd just blend in with my feathers."
 Leif blushed. How does her blush leak through her feathers? I bet Terra would write that down in her journal- Arrgh! Stop thinking about Terrrrraaaaaaa! Ember shook his head, "I know, it'll be a little weird, but if you want to stay somewhere else, then—"
"—No!" Leif interrupted, "no. I will stay." She gripped his feathers. This is so weird... Ember cleared his throat and looked away, "why don't we go, now, then?" Ember said.  
"...Sure..." And so, they left the air, and landed on the brick flooring of the plaza of Heriagon. The streets were filled with freaked out merchants and other phoenixes, and as Ember and the Hiding Leif greeted where they'd been an hour-or-so before, they saw a blood stain, and what looked like Phoenix-servants, but they had cat ears. Maybe the equivalent of a demi-human in the stories Grace read out loud to me? Ember shrugged it off. Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, Ember came around a corner and heard what sounded like a trumpet coming from the distance. "They're here..." Leif whispered. "What are?" Ember whispered back. "The princesses. Princess Terra and Princess Hera." Leif's voice sounded cold when she said the name Hera. 
"...Oh." Ember remembered Terra's corpse. "Well, I'll be right back... Can you climb out of the hammock and hide in the shadows for a moment? There's something I have to do." How could Leif not remember Terra's corpse? Oh... Maybe it was just a genuine mistake? Yeah, she probably just didn't know what she looked like... But what Ember wanted to find out was, Is Terra Still Alive. He didn't feel so bad about the others (although, in the future, Ember absolutely regrets it). As Leif climbs out of the hammock, Ember remembers about the egg. "I'll keep the egg, okay? Don't worry about it. Go, go, go!" Ember says quickly. The trumpets sound closer by the second.  "Woah! Look! Eeek, it's the Two Twin Prince Brothers, Ram & Alder!" Some girls squealed. Emer whipped his head around. Indeed, Alder and Ram were controlling the cart. It was pretty big, about the size of Grace's mom's SUV. It had four wheels, and horse-like things were moving it. "Hurry!" Finally, Leif got out of the hammock and was hidden in the shadows of a small building. "Alder! Ram!" Ember called, hoping they would see him. If they recognize me, they're real. If they don't, they're fake—